Meet our 2002 Fender American Series Stratocaster, that we decided to dress up in a Surf Green nitro relic that lets the original Candy Apple Red peek through like a tattoo you regret removing. It’s the kind of finish that screams “I’ve been places, but I’m still pretty.”
Underneath the cool exterior is an alder body with the proper factory shielding, grounding, and the classic HSH routing — because Fender USA liked to keep their options open in the early 2000s. The nitro relic? All attitude, zero structural drama.
The neck feels like slipping behind the wheel of a car you definitely can’t afford. A comfy C-shape maple number with a naturally worn satin back, 43.3mm nut, and those very sensible, very modern 9.5" radius vibes. At 20.8mm at the first fret and 21.9mm at the 12th, it sits right in that sweet spot where your hand goes, “Yeah… this’ll do nicely.”
And then — the frets. Brand new jumbo frets. None of this vintage-wire politeness. These are here to stay, here to bend, here to scream. Zero wear, maximum optimism.
Electronics? Pure early-2000s USA goodness. Original American Series AlNiCo V pickups, with a bridge that’s been hitting the gym (slightly overwound). Everything runs through CTS pots, a no-load Tone 2, an Oak 5-way switch, and a Switchcraft jack that won’t leave you mid-song like some jacks we won’t name.
The trem is the proper two-pivot American Series unit with the cold-rolled steel block — the one that actually sustains instead of politely giving up. Paired with the hi-mass saddles, this thing rings like it’s auditioning for stadium duty.
Weight? 3.7kg — enough to feel solid, not enough to make you revisit your chiropractor subscription.
Original sealed tuners, original plastics, original vibe. Schaller strap lock pins already installed because someone clearly cared about this guitar staying off the floor.
Comes in the original Fender USA ABS hard case, complete with keys (yes, it locks), hang tags with the serial, manual, stickers, trem arm, backplate, allen keys, strap locks, and even the sense that whoever owned this before you loved it… but not enough to keep it from ending up here.
This is a Strat that’s lived, aged, glowed up, and come out the other side ready to write some epic tunes with you.
This instrument received a full professional setup with deep body cleaning, body polish, neck deep clean, full electronics check, truss-rod and action and intonation adjustment. Restringed with D'addario 10-46 Nickel-plated steel strings.
This guitar will be shipped around UK with Parcelforce courier, safely packed into a sturdy guitar cardboard box. 24h courier service provided to UK customers. We also ship to USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and many other places, but at the moment we don't ship to EU or Northern Ireland.
Fender Stratocaster - American Series - Surf Green relic over Candy Apple (2002)
SPECS:
MODEL: Fender American Series Stratocaster
YEAR: 2002
COLOUR: Surf Green nitro relic over original Candy Apple Red gloss finish
PICKGUARD: original 3-ply aged vintage white
NECK: C-shape maple neck, worn satin back finish;
NUT WIDTH: 43.3 mm
NECK THICKNESS: 1st fret: 20.8 mm, 12th fret: 21.9 mm
FRETBOARD: maple, 9.5 inch radius;
FRETS: new 22 jumbo frets with no wear
TUNERS: original Fender USA sealed tuners
BODY: Alder body, original HSH body routing; factory cavities shielding and grounding; nitrocellulose relic finish; Schaller strap lock pins
TOTAL WEIGHT: 3.7 kg
BRIDGE: original 2-pivot American Series tremolo bridge with cold rolled steel tapered sustain block and hi-mass steel saddles
WEAR: all wear purely cosmetic; no structural damage
PICKUPS: original Fender American Series AlNiCo V single-coil pickup set with overwound bridge pickup
WIRING: original wiring with CTS A250K pots; Oak USA 5-way switch; ceramic tone capacitor; Switchcraft output jack; No-Load Tone2 pot
PLASTICS: original aged white pickup covers and knobs
HARDCASE: original Fender USA ABS moulded plastic guitar-shaped case
ACCESSORIES: Fender owner's manual, hang-tags with serial number, Fender sticker; key for the case lock; Schaller strap locks; allen wrenches for truss-rod and saddle adjustments; original backplate; original tremolo arm
DISCLAIMER
Please note that although we put our heart and soul and also all our knowledge into every single guitar we sell, a setup is a personal preference. However, we try to get the best playability out of every guitar and set them up so you can play both rhythm and lead. We also pull them all apart to clean and check every single component and replace all unreliable parts with new ones, from dodgy pots to the whole wiring, tuners, string trees, nuts and etc. All the work done is described in detail in the listing.
We make sure that every guitar we sell is problem free and take full responsibility for the accuracy of our listing descriptions. All photographs are done by a professional photographer and processed on a calibrated monitor. Some colours might look slightly different on your monitor, but we will always put the official Fender colour name in the listing description, so please study pictures of other guitars with the same colour if you are unsure. We focus on finding great quality guitars and making them reliable and inspiring to play.
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